“I began to understand”: Former United Europa League winning star sets record straight on Mourinho relationship

Former Manchester United winger Henrikh Mkhitaryan has had his say on his relationship with Jose Mourinho.

United move

Mkhitaryan moved to Old Trafford from Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2016 and was Jose Mourinho’s third summer signing.

The Armenian had a successful first season at Old Trafford, scoring a goal in the Europa League final victory over Ajax in 2017.

Nonetheless, his second season was much less successful as he was moved on in January to Arsenal in an ill-fated swap for Alexis Sanchez.

He has later gone on to have a solid career in Italy, playing for AS Roma and then Inter Milan.

Mourinho drama

There were reports a matter of days ago that Mkhitaryan’s new book lifted the lid on a strained relationship with the Portuguese coach.

Extracts of the book read, “I told him, you’ve been criticizing me for a year-and-a-half now, ever since I arrived at Manchester United. Mourinho told me I was ‘s***’ and I just lost my temper. ‘You are the s***. An enormous one.’ Mou replied: ‘Get out of here, I never want to see you again’.”

Reportedly Mourinho would never speak to the player in training but would send him a text message every night begging him to leave the club.

Tough love

Nonetheless, a recent interview with Mkhitaryan with Tuttomercatoweb has played down the interactions between the two.

Commenting on his relationship with Mourinho he painted a different kind of relationship stating, “despite the difficulties, my relationship with him wasn’t the easiest. But he helped me grow as a person. He wanted to put me in trouble and see if I could get out of it. I’ve never given up in life.”

Despite the abrasive nature of the interactions, the former Armenia international understands why Mourinho would treat him in this way.

He explained, “I’m not saying we had a bad relationship as people, but between coach and player, we always had unpleasant confrontations. But it was helpful in understanding how to behave in football. From there, I began to look around and understand that it was truly the right thing to do.”

The former United man also elaborated, “he wanted to see if you were mentally strong, if you could play in the games that matter in the Champions League and the league. This is his way of coaching and understanding people, to see if he can trust you.”

The two would later meet again at AS Roma and won the Conference League together in 2022.

Featured image Marco Luzzani via Getty Images

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